The Kombucha Saga

   Sooooooooooo........guess what we got in the mail the other day boys and girlies?  A letter from the Department of Firearms and Tobacco.  Guess what they wanted?  Samples!  I love that this letter came from the treasury department too.  They would love our compliance.  So, of course we complied.  In about a month we should find out the results.  They wanted two samples of each flavor so that they could test for alcohol content.  The first sample is to be tested refrigerated after two days and the second will be tested after 3 weeks of sitting at room temperature.  I called the guy to ask them a few questions.  It seems that about half of the kombucha being tested is coming in under or at the .5%, and the rest over.  We plan on being the former.  However, if we fail, we will either have to re-formulate or pay all the applicable taxes that an alcoholic beverage company must pay.  However, they are still unsure of where they will place kombucha in the realm of booze.  Beer? Wine? Spirits?  Malt?  Hmmmmmmmm, wait, Kombucha does not really fit any of these. 

Here's where the rant starts:

Kombucha is not BOOZE!  Drink all the kombucha you can handle and you will NOT be drunk.  No way, no how, unless you put booze in it, I like vodka.  You will just end up on the toilet.  Kombucha, and other fermented food products need to have thier own category.  Kombucha is a kind of food.  Yes, you drink it, but it acts as a food on your system.  Nourishing and symbiotically rejeuvinating.  My little homegrown business now has to begin to deal with food politics.  The big boys are starting to take notice of kombucha and it's rising comodity and they want in.  They see where I saw this stuff going 3 years ago.  They are now starting to see what GT Dave saw 10 years ago.  The only problem that GT's made for themselves was distributing far and wide.  Kombucha is something that needs to remain regional, I think.  Because of the nature of Kombucha, it does best being local.  Not only for the alcohol issue, but for the local freshness issue.  It's not only Kombucha.  More of our food needs to be bought and sold locally.  It tastes better, it looks better, and it's better for the environment, your health and your own local economy.  I think I may have mentioned this before. 

So kombucha brewers bring it on!  We all have a different way of brewing.  We have different things to bring to the table.  I kinda hate to make this comparisson because of the alcohol hoo-ha, but Kombucha can be made in so many different ways, much like beer.  How many different kinds of beer are out there?  Lots.  Literally, lots.  So, there is room for more kombucha.  I think maybe this country might be able to move aside or just strait up replace some of the soda that sits in towers 3 stories high that sit in the warehouses of the grocery stores.  People ask me, " well arent you afraid that bigger companies like Pepsi are gonna start making kombucha?"  No, I hope they do.  However it will never be the same.  I'm sure that they will find a way to pasturize the poop out of it and then add everything back in synthetically.  Then at least it won't have the alcohol.  Still, it will never be as good as the locally made kombuchas that we hope to see pop up here and there. 

If there is anything good that has come from all this Kombucha hoo-ha it is that Kombucha is getting more attention, and that is good.  It gives us a chance to educate those who have no idea what it is, and it's bringing more people around to a healthier choice for themselves.  THAT is the most important thing.  This country is so unhealthy it makes me cringe.  We're coming around, but we have all been a bit slow to see that big food indoustry is super messed up and oh so controlling and has their way with everything.  We need to make choices that say,  I choose to eat food that is good for my body and the environment.  It's gonna be a long way when you think about it.  You go to the movies and you can't get even one thing that doesn't have corn in it somehow.  All GMO.  Theme parks, water parks, amusment parks...all those places your not supposed to bring in outside food.  Sounds like a trap to me.  I wonder if they would figure out a way to GM kombucha?  I wouldn't want to see that, unless the Kombucha turned into a big SCOBY monster and began chasing down people with Big Gulps.  Bwahahahhahahahaha! 

Well that's my blog for now.  Hope you enjoyed the random sporadicness of my thoughts on Kombucha.

Have fun!  Keep drinking Kombucha if you can get it and make it if you can't find it.

Cheers!

NessAlla